PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – While he didn’t say starting quarterback Kenny Pickett would return against Florida State Saturday, Pat Narduzzi did confirm that Pickett took his first snaps at practice.
“Today, he looks a little bit better,” Narduzzi said. “Who knows, but yesterday I was thinking Joey (Yellen) is the guy. Today Kenny was like ‘hey coach, I feel a little bit better’.”
Pickett was hurt his ankle in the overtime loss at Boston College and hasn’t played since.
“It’s kind of risky, but we will see where it is,” Narduzzi said. “Today is only Thursday, but you get scared putting a guy out there without a whole lot of reps. We will see where that thing goes.”
New RB Group
Narduzzi did confirm he has narrowed his group of running backs to two, both named Davis.
“AJ has had one of his better weeks in weeks,” Narduzzi said. “I really like where AJ is right now and Vince Davis has been that guy all year. We will ride those guys for a while.”
“The other guys may get a snap here and there, but right now it’s Davis and Davis.”
First Game Without Paris Ford
Pitt will play it’s first game without All-ACC safety Paris Ford Saturday and defensive coordinator Randy Bates doesn’t have an issue with his defense without his leading tackler.
“I’m here to talk about the guys on the team, not the guys off the team,” Bates said. “Damar (Hamlin) and Patrick (Jones) are the two captains, we won’t miss a beat.”
Redshirt freshman Brandon Hill will get the start after Ford opted out of the rest of the season to prepare for the NFL Draft. Bates said Hill is a physical player who knows the calls and knows where to be, and now is the opportunity for him.
“We have the utmost trust in Brandon Hill and the guys behind him,” said linebacker SirVocea Dennis. “We are not worried about that at all. We are just going to go out there, execute our game-plan and play our defense.”
This new look defense will be challenged by Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis, who won the battle to start, throwing for 758 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions and Travis has run for a team-leading 389 yards and five touchdowns.
“Jordan Travis is a good football player,” Narduzzi said. “He hustles down the field. He blocks down the field. He’s a football player. I really like that guy a lot because of the effort he puts into what he does.”
Narduzzi said Florida State is likely “licking its chops” after seeing what Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book did to the Pitt defense.
COVID wins
Feeling for his predecessor Paul Chryst and the coronavirus issues at Wisconsin, Narduzzi is proud of how his team has dealt with COVID-19.
“We can look at the wins and losses, but we are winning that,” Narduzzi said of dealing with the pandemic. “The number 1 priority is the safety of our kids, our football team. I talk all the time about don’t let your guard down. Find a different way of hitting them without boring them to death.”
Narduzzi said if a football player has the sniffles, he’s not allowed in the building until he talks with their trainers. Adding it just takes one to infect an entire room.
Bates Feels You
“I’m sorry for those that have angst, we all want to be 7-0,” Bates said of their four-game losing streak. “It’s a learning experience for everybody and I think the kids are handling it really well.”